Brassiere



F. AMYOT BRASSIERE March 13, 1962 Filed May 6, 1958 FIGZ INVENTOR PierreAmyor EY @hw/MQ MAH-@RNW llnited @rates @arent @hice 3,@2dfi8ll PatentedMar. 13, 1962 3,024,739 BRASSIERE Pierre rnyot, Sillery, Quebec, Sanada,assigner to Sarong Inc., West Haven, Conn., a corporation offlonnecticnt Filed May 6, i953, Ser. N 734,079 2 Claims, (Qi. t28-4253)This invention relates to ladies undergarments, and more particularly tobust supporting garments, or brassieres.

This application is a continuation-impart of my prior application S.N.656,35() tiled May l, 1957 and which has now matured into U.S. Patent2,897,822 on August 4, 1959. That patent describes a constructioninvolving inter alia two crossed diaphragm bands connecting the breastcups with opposite side sections of the brassiere wherein the breastcups are free of attachment to one another.

The brassiere art is rich with structures which implement a greatvariety of concepts for the molding and control of the bust. Suchstructures are created sometimes to present different appearanceaccording to the creators concept of what is desirable healthwise aswell as in appearance and control, and sometimes to present an improvedstructure for achieving the same appearance and the same degree ofcontrol. But in any case, the art is generally wedded to the broadconcept of a brassiere structure in which the bust cups occur in agarment in fixed spatial relationship, that is, the distance from cup tocup is fixed. Such disposition, however, leaves much to be desired interms of comfort while maintaining adequate support, in the sense thatmuch more can be done for a woman in these respects than has heretoforebeen done.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a brassierestructure wherein great flexibility is attainable so far as the weareris concerned, in that adequate support and complete comfort ismaintained when casual movements of the body are made which result inslight shifts in bust alignment, and indeed, even when the wearer isengaged in more active movement. To achieve this end, the bust cups inthis novel structure occur in elements which are completely independentexcept for a coupling connection or connecting means which imposes alimitation on the relative shifting between elements, and

ence the bust cups, such connecting means serving to restrain excessivemutual shifting. lrimarily, such connecting means controls theindependent elements and limits them to shifting in pivotal manner andalso inward movement. Besides the indicated shift control provided bythe connecting means, yielding components are incorporated into theelements so that yielding and shifting within the brassiere structure ispossible to accommodate movement by the wearer, while the restraintnecessary for execution of the fundamental purpose of the brassiere inmolding and support are not lost.

How these and many other objects are to be implemented will become clearthrough a consideration of the accompanying drawings wherein:

FlG. l is a front view of a brassiere constructed in accordance with thepresent invention, with a portion broken away to show the connectingmeans, and the connection thereof to the rear element; and

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same garment, also having a portion brokenaway, in this case to show the connecting means and its connection tothe front element.

The brassiere of the drawings has body encircling portions lii and lilwhich extend from the sides of the front of the garment to the rearwhere they are fastened in conventional manner, this not being shown inthe drawings. Lying between such body encircling portions is what maygenerally be designated the bodice section l2 of the brassiere, suchbodice section being joined to the n Ut body encircling portions i0 and11 at seams 13 and 14 respectively. The bodice section l2 consists of apair of substantially identical reversely mounted partially overlappingelements, which elements are in turn generally designated by thenumerals 15 and 16.

it will be seen that the breast cup 24 is attached at its lower edgealong line 25 to a diaphragm band generally indicated as 48. Similarlybreast cup 23 is attached at its lower edge along line 33 to a seconddiaphragm band 49. Element l5 has a side i7 incorporated into seam l,such side 17 extending downwardly from the top of seam 13 to anintermediate point 1S in seam 13. The diaphragm band i8 of element l5has one side secured to the bottom of breast cup 24 and incorporatedinto seam i3, and a side 2l incorporated into seam i4, said side 2lextending upwardly from the bottom of seam la to point 22 in seam lawhich point 22 is below the bust cup 23 in element lo. There is a bustcup 24 in element l5 which bust cup is demarked. at one side by seam i3and at its bottom along line 25. At the side of bust cup 24 opposite toseam i3, the bust cup is bounded by an elastic insert 26, which itselfextends downwardly into a notched boundary 27. There is an additionalelastic insert 3i in the side 2l of diaphragm band 48. lt is thus seenthat the diaphragm band is composed of two parts. The elastic insert 26is primarily stretchable parallel to the upper edge of the element l5,while the additional elastic insert 3l is primarily stretchablehorizontally. A shoulder strap 32 extends from the highest point inelement i5 to body encircling portion lt) at the rear of the garment.

Element t6 in FlG. l is seen to lie behind element l5 to the extent thatsuch elements overlap, and, while reversely mounted to element l5, hasidentical constituent parts. ln addition to the already mentioned bustcup 23, bounded by lower arcuate line 33, element 16 has an elasticinsert 3d extending downwardly into notch boundary 35.. Furthermore,there is an additional elastic insert 37 at seam 13, which additionalelastic insert is at side 38 of diaphragm band i9 of element i6, whichside 33 extends upwardly from the bottom of seam i3 to point il in suchseam. The element 16 also has a side 42 in seam la which side 42 extendsdownwardly from the top of the brassiere to an intermediate point 43.Shoulder strap da extends from the highest point in element 16rearwardly to body encircling portion ll. As will be seen from thedrawings, diaphragm band 48 has its upper edge shaped to provide aconcave outline 25 extending from the side seam 13 to one side of adeeply notched central section 27 and a second concave outline 28extending from the other side of the deeply notched central section tothe opposite side seam 14. Diaphragm band 49 is substantially identicalto diaphragm band 43 but the band 49 is disposed in inverse relation toband 48 so that concave outline 33 extends from the side edge M to oneside of a deeply notched central section 35 and a second concave outline36 extending from the other side of the deeply notched central sectionto the opposite side seam i3. The concave outline portion 25 ofdiaphragm band 43 is secured along the lower edge of breast cup 24 whilethe concave outline portion Ztl extends freely along a contour lyingwithin and substantially, but not quite concentrically with the contourof the lower edge of breast cup 23. Similarly the concave outlineportion 33 of band 49 is secured along the lower edge of breast cup 23and the concave outline portion 36 extends freely along a contour lyingwithin and substantially, but not quite concentrically with the contourof the lower edge yof breast cup 24. The free top edges of the diaphragmbands lie rather closely adjacent to the bottom edges of the breast cupsand freedom for relative movement is provided, giving greater comfortand adaptability because the bands can move relative to the cups theypass under. This benefit can be obtained in high degree by having thefree top edges of the bands conform closely and precisely to the bottomedges of the cups, or a substantial amount of this benefit can beobtained with general but less precise conformity. Thus the top edges ofthe overlapping diaphragm bands substantially conform to and help definethe lower curved boundaries of the breast cups under which they reach.Each overlapping dia phragm band in the common central area of overlapis also free from the lower boundary of the breast cup under which itextends and from the other diaphragm band. In addition to the freedomand flexibility which is derived from having the diaphragm bands freethroughout their common area of overlap, neatness and triinness of lineat all times are obtained by having the top edges of the bands accordneatly and adjacently to the bottom edges of the breast cups. Thisconforming adjacency is maintained intact during wear by virtue of thefact that the diaphragm bands are secured to the opposite side panels ofthe garment so that while there is possible freedom of movement, thediaphragm bands are prevented from moving any great distance away fromthe aforementioned lower boundaries of the breast cups.

It will be observed that the lower end of each diaphragm band is securedto a side section of the brassiere, with the bottom edge of the band andthe bottom edge of the side section forming a continuous unbrokenstraight line with the bottom edge of the diaphragm band continuingupward in a straight line to` become attached to the bottom edge of thefar cup. Since the corresponding reversely mounted cross band issimilarly though reversely arranged, the two diaphragm bands cross eachother with their free bottom edges defining a shallow inverted V whoseapex comes at the center of the brassiere. The brassiere functions in amanner such as to be capable of adjusting itself and fitting the bodiesof persons varying considerably as to shape and proportions andaccordingly enables the brassiere to fit satisfactorily a higherpercentage of the persons within any one size. The fact that thediaphragm bands are disposed in angular relationship with each other andhave relative freedom of movement allows self-varying accommodation todefine the effective lower boundary of the breast cup which each bandextends, or passes, under.

Thus, both elements 1S and 16 are independent except for the fact thatboth are integrated into the brassiere at seams 13 and 14. While suchelements are independent, a coupling connection, e.g. tape 4S is joinedat end 46 to element 15 and at end 47 to element 16. In the drawings itwill be seen that inserts 26 and 34 in the respective elements aresuperposed at the respective notched boundaries 27 and 35 in the centralregion of the bodice section 12, It is here also that tape 45 appears.It will be seen that the coupling connection joins the cups together inthe region above the central area of overlap ofthe lements at a point nolower than the top edge of the diaphragm bands where they are attachedto the breast cups. As will further be seen from the drawings, such tape4S is at its fullest lateral extension when such inserts 26 and 34 aresuperposed, so that further lateral separation of the elements is notpossible. However, since the tape 45 is free other than being secured tothe respective elements at its ends, the elements are capable of inwardlateral movement, and also mutual pivotal shifting. It will also beapparent that the exertion of a force upon one of the shoulder strapsmay result in some pivotal movement of one of the elements to the extentpermitted by tape 45, as well as yielding of the elastic inserts both atthe center and narrower sides of the element.

It is also apparent from the drawings that the bottom edges of therespective elements are reversely inclined in the garment, and crosseach other so that untoward bulk at the midrilf section of the garmentis avoided.

Since certain changes may be made in the above described garments anddifferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not limiting.

l claim:

l. in a brassiere having body-encircling right and left side sections, abodice section therebetween having two substantially identical,reversely mounted, partially overlapping right and left front elementshaving a central area of overlap, a breast cup and a diaphragm band ineach of said front elements, the said right front element having a firstdiaphragm band secured to the bottom edge 'of the right breast cup andreaching across the front to the left side section and having a top edgeextending underneath the left breast cup, said top edge substantiallyconforming to and helping to define the effective lower boundary of theleft breast cup, the said left front element being reverselycorresponding, the top edge of each diaphragm band being unconnected tothe other diaphragm band and unconnected to the breast cup under whichit extends in the central area of overlap, whereby self-varyingaccommodation is provided in the defining of the effective breast cupboundary, the diaphragm bands being disposed in angular relationshipwith each other, the bottom edge of the first diaphragm band and thebottom edge of the left Side section forming a continuous unbrokenintact line, with the bottom edge of the first diaphragm band continuingupward in a straight line to the bottom edge of the right breast cup,the bottom edge of the second diaphragm band being reverselycorresponding, the free bottom edges of the diaphragm bands crossingeach other to form a shallow inverted V, the inner part of the rightbreast cup having a coupling connection with the inner part of the leftbreast cup in the region above the central area of overlap of theelements, said coupling connection being at a point no lower than thetop edge of the diaphragm bands where they are attached to the breastcups.

2. A brassiere according to claim V1 in which the diaphragm band of theright front element is secured to the front edge of the left sidesection from its bottom edge up to the left breast cup which latter issecured to the said side section from the diaphragm band up to the topedge of the left side section, the other diaphragm band being reverselycorresponding.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,390,465 Russo Dec. 4, 1945 2,471,670 Becker et al. May 31, 19492,513,406 Dubner July 4, 1950 2,541,147 Becker Feb. 13, 1951 2,706,816Dozier Apr. 26, `1955 2,746,053 Krieger May 22, 1956 2,897,822 AmyotAug. 4, 1959

